Category: Parish Pride

The Bank of Jamaica Act came into effect in October 1960, giving the Bank the sole right to issue notes and coins on the island. BOJ notes made their first appearance on May 1, 1961. The front bore a portrait of…

The year was 1964, the song was My Boy Lollipop, and the singer was a teenage Jamaican girl named Millie Small. The single was only a cover of Barbie Gaye’s 1956 hit, but it undoubtedly catapulted the young singer into…

As we end our trek around Jamaica for Parish Pride month, we decided to check in at the hot spots in Portland, St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew that we have featured in our Travel Tuesday series over the years. How many…

Few people now recall that Jamaica’s bauxite/alumina industry was launched in the hills just north of Ocho Rios and that it was this that started the metamorphosis of the tiny fishing village. At Phoenix Park near Moneague, the genesis of…

The Great Exhibition was the dream of AC Sinclair, one of the compilers of the annual Handbooks of Jamaica. Sinclair was inspired by the 1851 Great Exhibition at London’s Crystal Palace and spent many years trying unsuccessfully to drum up support for…

The heat that rose from the tarmac of Kingston’s Norman Manley International Airport was nothing compared to the level of expectation that was seeping through the thousands gathered on the tarmac that 21st day of April, 1966. The day was declared a…

In 1664, the Spanish relinquished control of Jamaica to the British and Sir Thomas Modyford divided this fair isle into seven administrative units known as parishes. These were located mainly in the mid to south-eastern end of the island: Clarendon,…

The National Stadium is the home of Jamaican sporting greatness, both in football and athletics. In the case of the former, it was nicknamed ‘The Office’ during the Reggae Boyz historic Road to France campaign for the 1998 World Cup.…

This week, we conclude our Parish Facts series by venturing east to the county of Surrey, to cover Portland, St Thomas, Kingston and St Andrew. Portland Originally created in 1723, the parish was named for the Duke of Portland, then the Governor of Jamaica. Portland…

January 5, 1978 was one of the darkest, most controversial days in Jamaica’s history. On that day, a covert operation allegedly carried out by special forces in the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) resulted in what is known as the Green Bay Massacre.…